Where the mayoral candidates stand
Nancy McFarlane: Voted to place $56 million in transportation and affordable housing bonds on the Oct. 11 ballot and supports their passage.
"I know that it is important to continue to invest in our infrastructure in order to meet the needs of the future," she said.
Billie Redmond: Says she will not vote in favor of the bond issue. She said "this is the wrong time to make the bond decision" because economic uncertainty makes it hard to project future revenues.
"While I believe Raleigh's finances have been well-managed in the past, the world and economic realities have changed," she said. "The volatile debt markets move by the hour and there is no reliable predictability."
As mayor, Redmond said, she would ensure the bond projects "are carried out effectively and efficiently" if voters approve them.
Randall Williams: Supports passage of the bond proposals, calling them "reasonable investments."
Where the money would go
$15.1 million for streets
Resurface 60 to 70 miles of city streets: $10.05 million
Combine with $3.9 million in state funds to widen and realign Tryon Road (Wilmington Street to Norfolk Southern Railway tracks): $1.8 million
Convert South and Lenoir streets to two-way traffic: $2 million
Plan Hillsborough Street streetscape (Gardner to Rosemary): $1 million
Study Blount-Person streets corridor: $250,000
$11.75 million for sidewalks
Build 7.15 miles of sidewalks (on parts of 17 streets selected by the city): $4.75 million
Build new sidewalks requested in citizen petitions: $3 million
Repair sidewalks: $4 million
$7.25 million for transit and trains
Improve Moore Square Transit Center: $3.5 million
Improve bus shelters and benches on CAT bus routes: $750,000
Combine with $20 million in state and federal funds for a new Union Station Amtrak depot: $3 million
$5.9 million for greenways
Build Walnut Creek Greenway from New Hope Road to Neuse River: $3.2 million
Build Lumley/Westgate road corridor greenway and bicycle lane improvements: $2.2 million
Start work on the Rosengarten Greenway from Dorothea Drive to Cabarrus Street: $500,000
Related Stories
Related Images
Travis Long - tlong@newsobserver.com
The Moore Square Transit Station bustles with rush hour traffic on a recent weekday afternoon. The station is a likely candidate to get money from a $40 million transportation bond package on Tuesday's ballot.
Editor's note: A story Monday incorrectly described the size of an unused warehouse under consideration by Raleigh planners as the possible site for a new train station. Triangle Transit, the owner, says the building is about 26,000 square feet.
RALEIGH -- Don't call them road bonds. The $40 million transportation bond issue on Raleigh's referendum ballot Tuesday includes only $15.1 million to plan, repave or improve city streets.
The other $24.9 million will be spent, if voters agree, for better travel by bus, train, bike and shoe leather.
This is the first time Raleigh voters have been asked to approve a mix of transportation bonds for new sidewalks and sidewalk repairs, transit, bike lanes and greenways, along with general street resurfacing work.
The bond package includes money to repave more than 60 miles of streets, upgrade bus stops and overhaul the Moore Square Transit Center, start building a new Amtrak station and build miles of sidewalks.
"These are important projects," outgoing Mayor Charles Meeker said last week at a rally for the transportation bonds and a separate $16 million housing bond package. "They will do a lot for our city, and at a very, very small cost."
Approval of the combined $56 million in transportation and housing bonds would increase property taxes by $17.11 a year for a residential property valued at $188,139, the median assessment on Raleigh homes.
Some Raleigh voters are not ready to swallow a tax increase in this chilly economic climate.
"We're barely getting by as it is with these taxes that keep going up and up," said Katy Beddingfield, 44, who describes herself as a blogger and a stay-at-home mom. "As far as building on the backs of the middle class, it's just something I can't stomach right now. In general I do oppose bonds."
Smedes York, a formerRaleigh mayor, said he believes "a lot of people are just in a mood to vote 'no'," but he endorsed the bond proposal. He said Raleigh's triple-A credit rating will translate into favorable interest rates.
"Being a business guy, the time to borrow is when somebody will lend it to you, and when the interest rates are low," York said. "So this is a good time, and the improvements that are being added show the compassion of our city in terms of the housing. And they're forward-thinking in terms of these sidewalks and greenways and transportation improvements."
The Wake County Republican Party and some local Republican candidates recommended "no" votes on the housing and transportation bond packages.
"Not because of any particular part of the bond, but simply because Raleigh is in such huge debt that we can't afford any more, with the shape the economy is in," said Susan Bryant, the county GOP chairwoman.
The city's debt is $1.38 billion - four times the amount it had a decade ago. The borrowed money paid for road improvements, water and sewer plants, parks and greenways, and a new downtown convention center. About 10 percent of the city's general government fund goes to pay the general fund debt service - a smaller ratio than in Charlotte, Durham, Winston-Salem and Greensboro.
Here are highlights of the transportation bond package:
Sidewalks: Sidewalk construction and repair are a big part of the package, and this represents a new direction for Raleigh.
This year the City Council quit charging property owners for part of the cost to build and repair sidewalks that border their property. Home and business owners had complained for years about unexpected bills from the city, from a few hundred dollars to more than $1,000, to fix broken sidewalks in their neighborhoods.
Now the city pays the whole cost. The bond package includes $4.75 million to pave more than seven miles of city-initiated sidewalk projects, $3 million for sidewalks requested by residents and $4 million for sidewalk repairs.
Buses: The Moore Square Transit Center, built in 1988, would get a $3.5 million makeover to upgrade waiting areas, restrooms and other facilities, and to increase capacity for its steadily growing bus traffic. Capital Area Transit ridership has increased from 3.5 million in 2003 to about 6 million this year, and about 7,000 riders board buses at Moore Square each day.
"This facility is very functional, but it's getting tired," said David Eatman, the city transit administrator. "We think we can improve the bus flow and the pedestrian flow."
The bond package also includes money for shelters and benches at bus stops across the city.
Trains: A $3 million item would cover the city's share of the proposed Union Station for Amtrak and commuter trains. State and federal agencies would pay most of the cost, pegged at $20 million to $25 million.
Raleigh is one of the three busiest Amtrak stops south of Washington, D.C., but its cramped depot has insufficient parking and an out-of-the-way location on Cabarrus Street.
State and city planners have their eye on an abandoned 4,000-square-foot warehouse at the end of West Martin Street. They're working up plans to renovate the building as part of a train station that would be about twice that size. Construction could start by 2013.
Streets: The bond package includes money to widen part of Tryon Road, convert South and Lenoir streets to two-way traffic and start work on extending Hillsborough Street's streetscape improvements west from Gardner Street to Rosemary Street.
Greenways: $5.9 million would be set aside mostly for construction on the Walnut Creek Greenway and the Lumley / Westgate road corridor greenway and bike lane.
Staff writer Matt Garfield contributed to this report.